<p class="title">One of India's top fashion designers Sabyasachi Mukherjee on Saturday criticised women of his country, particularly of the younger generation, for not wearing saree and giving preference to western outfits.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I think, if you tell me that you do not know how to wear a saree, I would say shame on you. It's a part of your culture, (you) need to stand up for it," Sabyasachi told Indian students at the Harvard India Conference.</p>.<p class="bodytext">His remarks were received with a resounding applause from the audience.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The designer was responding to a question on difficulties women face in draping a saree.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The garment, he said, is the most wonderful dress in the world and people across the globe admire it, and identify Indian women with it.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Sabyasachi referred to his recent conversation with Deepika Padukone, saying the "Padmaavat" actor, in her own way, is creating disruption in fashion.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"She wears saree at all the places she goes," he told the participants here.</p>.<p class="bodytext">When asked why he decided to launch a label of Indian clothing, Sabyasachi said he found a "major disconnect" when he observed Indian women and men losing touch with their roots.</p>.<p class="bodytext">They are becoming "socially insecure", he rued.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Women and men are trying very hard to be something that they are not. Your clothing should be a part of who you are and connect you to your roots," he added.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The relationship between an Indian woman and saree is that of a serpent, the designer said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"It's a relationship of misunderstanding. It's easy to wear a saree. Wars have been fought in saree. Grandmothers have slept in saree and have woken up without any folds to it," Sabyasachi added.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The Indian Consul General from New York, Sandeep Chakravarty, present in the audience brought in the question of tying dhoti in India.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Indian women have kept alive the saree, but the dhoti is dead," the designer said much to the laughter and applause from the audience.</p>.<p class="bodytext">When asked what it would take for the saree to go global, Sabyasachi said, he would, however, prefer that the garment stayed in India.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I would be very honest with you. I think that cultural clothing should stay within the domain of a particular country because when you take it out, it becomes a costume and then it does not remain sustainable," the designer said.</p>
<p class="title">One of India's top fashion designers Sabyasachi Mukherjee on Saturday criticised women of his country, particularly of the younger generation, for not wearing saree and giving preference to western outfits.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I think, if you tell me that you do not know how to wear a saree, I would say shame on you. It's a part of your culture, (you) need to stand up for it," Sabyasachi told Indian students at the Harvard India Conference.</p>.<p class="bodytext">His remarks were received with a resounding applause from the audience.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The designer was responding to a question on difficulties women face in draping a saree.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The garment, he said, is the most wonderful dress in the world and people across the globe admire it, and identify Indian women with it.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Sabyasachi referred to his recent conversation with Deepika Padukone, saying the "Padmaavat" actor, in her own way, is creating disruption in fashion.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"She wears saree at all the places she goes," he told the participants here.</p>.<p class="bodytext">When asked why he decided to launch a label of Indian clothing, Sabyasachi said he found a "major disconnect" when he observed Indian women and men losing touch with their roots.</p>.<p class="bodytext">They are becoming "socially insecure", he rued.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Women and men are trying very hard to be something that they are not. Your clothing should be a part of who you are and connect you to your roots," he added.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The relationship between an Indian woman and saree is that of a serpent, the designer said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"It's a relationship of misunderstanding. It's easy to wear a saree. Wars have been fought in saree. Grandmothers have slept in saree and have woken up without any folds to it," Sabyasachi added.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The Indian Consul General from New York, Sandeep Chakravarty, present in the audience brought in the question of tying dhoti in India.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Indian women have kept alive the saree, but the dhoti is dead," the designer said much to the laughter and applause from the audience.</p>.<p class="bodytext">When asked what it would take for the saree to go global, Sabyasachi said, he would, however, prefer that the garment stayed in India.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I would be very honest with you. I think that cultural clothing should stay within the domain of a particular country because when you take it out, it becomes a costume and then it does not remain sustainable," the designer said.</p>